


Eternal Starlight

by Townycod13



Category: South Park
Genre: M/M, Vampire AU, beta'd by panaceaa, im very sorry about this, more kyle swearing in polish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-04-26 14:20:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14403939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Townycod13/pseuds/Townycod13
Summary: He was alone under a massive sky.And then he wasn't.





	Eternal Starlight

**Author's Note:**

> Fic beta'd by Panaceaa! <3

\--Age 7--

The warnings of a mother can often weave through the deaf ears of those that are young while the dangers of the world outside continue to assail the innocent and defenseless.

It was a tragic fact that Kyle didn't always listen to his own mother, despite a consistent assurance that it was all for his safety. All to keep him from meeting the same fate of so many before him. The fate of a child too curious and too weak.

Kyle knew he wasn't weak.

That was perhaps the problem.

"Come on, Ike!"

The toddler waddled after him trustingly. Never a doubt in his elder brother. Kyle knew everything and Kyle was strong.

Kyle knew this. Ike knew this.

So they crawled under the fence in the dangerous hours of sleep, away from the property and to the lake. It would be a simple matter from there to the city.

All they wanted to see was the city outside. All the things that his parents had assured him were dangerous. The world outside of his tiny home.

The air was crisp and new, a wet freshness as the world continued it's endless cycles through of rotations. They were almost there.

A sound could be heard nearby and Kyle froze, a thought occurring to him for the first time.

Kyle knew he was strong. But what if something they ran into was even stronger?

Ike was still small and weak.

The shadows danced and he reached for his brother, he could protect his brother from the strange voices that cackled tauntingly as they neared.

He should have listened to his mother. How could he possibly understand the creatures that came out when all sane people slept?

How could he protect his brother?

His hand touched empty air.

The child wasn't there.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around him. He felt a voiceless scream build in his throat.

"Kyle!" His father's gruff and urgent whisper quelled the fear some, "Where's your brother?"

There was that fear again.

They needed to go. The strange and terrifying creatures were all gathering around something. He heard his brother cry and his heart stuttered to a halt.

His father cursed.

"Go back, Kyle, run home."

"No--"

The look his father shot him was as piercing as a bullet. He ran.

He ran for what felt like ages.

The air no longer felt fresh and new.

He hid beneath the cloak as he ran and prayed to anything that was listening.

His brother.

Just his brother needed to be safe.

How foolish he'd been.

Ignoring the warning words of his mother. Guiding his brother to a guillotine.

By the time he'd reached the front porch he didn't know if he had any tears left to shed.

\--

The sky is an endless sea of color containing only the meaning super-imposed by those that choose to see significance in the world. It should be noted that while the meanings were superfluous at best, they eased some.

The stars above were reassuring.

A gentle reminder that there is a world lit by tiny blinking lights.

Kenny could have done with seeing less of them. Or at least not seeing them in the comfort of his own bed. The unintentional skylight that guided the weather into his room was a constant reminder that he wasn't quite tall enough yet to patch that hole.

He could climb to the roof and patch it up there. It would make sense. It would be easy.

It wasn't something he would do. Not yet.

Humans have a tendency to create their own value through a series of goals that only an individual could understand. Hoping to develop importance and self-reliance.

Kenny's goals were simple.

He wanted to be tall. He wanted to touch the ceiling and close the hole with the strength of his own two hands. He wanted to be strong. He wanted to have the ability to make decisions for those around him.

Instead of delicately tap-dancing on the glass shattered across the floor like hot coals that he couldn't let burn him, he wanted sweep aside the shards.

Kenny had a lot of goals.

A great many of them were childish and small. A great many of them were large and impressive.

He liked to think of the time taken to reach them was just what he had to endure in order to achieve something.

So he could endure the chill in his room because someday he would be tall. Tall enough to block away the visage of sparkling masses of exploding plasma ages away. Dying but eternal.

The hand he reached towards the sky felt small and helpless, but he knew he would find strength.

He could be stronger than a star.

A symbol that the weak super-impose meaning onto.

\--Age 10--

"What's wrong, Bubbe? Don't like your food?"

Kyle poked at the meal uncomfortably, it looked perfectly edible but he couldn't quite find the appetite. He sipped his juice and sighed, "No, it's good."

His mother put down her utensils, face softening in a way that was truly rare. Empty seats where he should have a father and should have a brother filled his eyes and he looked down.

"I'm here, Kyle. If there's something wrong, you know that you can talk to your mother."

That was rich coming from a woman that rarely spent the time listening. He bit back the remark and tried to come up with the strength to open up.

Maybe, maybe this time she really would listen. Maybe she'd explain...

"I've been thinking about Ike--"

She bustled near him, hand stroking his head gently, "It wasn't your fault, Bubbe. Don't worry about it. I'm sure..." she struggled to find her own words, "I'm sure that your father was able to keep him safe."

The words he'd wanted to express died in his throat.

He leaned into the embrace all the same. She wasn't listening, she never listened, but she wasn't entirely wrong either.

There were so many answers he wanted that he wouldn't get from her.

This time. This time he'd plan carefully. He'd research the strange creatures.

He'd find Ike.

And if his mother wouldn't listen then she didn't have to know.

\--

The night air swept up his cape and the miscreant before him flinched back at the approach.

"I--I don't want any trouble! Look--" the man threw the purse desperately the side, "I gave back the damn purse!"

That wasn't enough.

If he was left to his own devices it would just be another young woman bleeding with a concussion on the corner, sobbing uncontrollably about the bills she couldn't hope to pay and the world she couldn't pray hard enough to belong in.

This man was probably the same.

The only difference was that one of them had chosen to hurt another to deal with the spiraling hell of reality. There was no choice in the matter. One had to face the law and both would be bruised in the morning.

Another gust of wind and Mysterion left to find another terrified citizen. There were so many dark things that crept up in the night. Impulses, temptations, and cruelty dulled the shine of stars in the sky.

That was okay. Mysterion didn't need light to guide his path. Once or twice he might lose to the violence but he would always rise again.

Forever dying and always there.

Another scream touched his ears and he made his way without hesitation.

A fearless specter in the night.

\--Age 13--

He had planned it carefully.

There were a lot of little things to put into account. Aside from basic timing he needed to understand the patterns of those creatures that he was kept hidden from. Protected from. He needed to find information without the help of his mother and without the company of a partner.

It had to be a secret.

His mother's gentle snores reached his ears and he knew that now was the only time. His sack was packed, his old cloak wrapped tightly around him, and a world that he could barely begin to understand mapped out in his notebook.

The sound of wood creaking under his foot was his only hint of hesitation.

It was a pivotal moment in his own individual time. The sound echoing through the halls and his own heart. Did he proceed, under the gate, through the marsh, past the pond and into the foreign land beyond? Or did he stop, like so many nights before, and stay in the safety of his mother's protection?

Was he making another mistake, like he had all those years ago? Would he lose even more by moving forward?

Ike.

He'd never seen what happened to his brother. Or his father. He had to know. He had to see with his own eyes, dead or alive, what had taken them from his life.

And if the creatures had devoured his brother, Kyle tightened his grip on the knapsack, they would pay.

He threw away his final hesitation and fled the estate.

\--

"--but you promised to help me study!"

Kenny tried to balance the options in a way that could be made into sense. It wasn't an easy scale and he didn't think he was going to come out of it on top.

"I know, Karen--and I will, just, there's something I have to take care of tonight. I swear I'll help you tomorrow."

Her eyes shone with the shattered hopes of youth, "You always say that..."

"And I always mean it." he promised.

"...that's not the problem."

He knew, he understood as well as ever, but the disconnected gorge between them couldn't be filled today.

Not today.

He might be in a bit over his head on this one but someone had to put a stop to the meth labs that plagued their city. Someone had to stop it.

Someone had to protect people like his sister.

...Like his brother...

He'd barely linked it to the cult and to top it all there were passages in their stupid holy book that made his blood run cold.

There was too much hanging on tonight.

"Fine. Go, I'll be fine, alone." Karen wouldn't look at him and he couldn't answer. She was already storming off into the school and out of hearing.

He wouldn't have had words anyway.

Before anything could happen he had to go to work. Just seven hours of being verbally abused by entitled patrons followed by a few more hours behind a desk organizing pointlessly and then he would have to stop to don a cape in order to correct injustice.

Rough estimate of anticipated sleep for the night was somewhere in the 0-3 hours range. Kenny considered the retreating back of his sister and sliced down that estimate. If he rearranged his schedule to skip meals... no wait, he already did that. There was a phone call or two that could be put off.

Kenny continued his scheduling gymnastics all the rest of the way to work. The distraction served as an efficient way to pass the time and, more importantly, made him walk past the Starbucks he should be walking into.

He would have just turned around and returned, rather than waffling at the edge of town alone in the wee hours of the morning, but he heard something.

A rustle in the woods. In all likeliness it was another painful death awaiting him and he ought to be running but it was accompanied by something like a sob.

Perhaps the only advantage of eternally burning up in the wake of death was his ability investigate the helpless and maybe offer them what they lacked.

"Hello?"

He was going to be late to work, his inner scheduling gymnast warned, and then he was going to have to calculate everything from the start.

Still, someone crying alone in the forest at stupid a.m. was something that any concerned citizen should investigate.

The rustling and crying stopped when he called and he could hear harsh breathing, the breath of a person that didn't know how to calm themselves. A panic attack? Kenny took a step closer.

" _Don't_ come any closer!"

The voice was high, desperate, and demanding. Kenny obeyed on instinct.

"Are you okay?"

There was silence.

"Do you need help?"

More silence.

"I'm coming ove--"

"Don't!" The voice broke in pitch, "The smell is--everything here is so _wrong_ and horrible."

"It is?"

"You can't smell it?" The voice shuddered, "I--I saw some people--things--creatures--I don't know what they were. They _looked_ like people but they smelled so wrong."

"Drunks?" Kenny guessed. Geez, the way the guys voice cracked meant he was probably somewhere around Kenny's own age. Had he seriously lived this long without running into drunks? Probably a trust-fund baby.

He remembered, belatedly, that drunks had a tendency to do terrible things to the defenseless and his worry returned two-fold.

"Maybe? I don't know." The voice sounded as if might burst into tears again, "I ran away. I couldn't--I'm supposed to be looking for my brother but there's so many terrible things. I can't _breathe_ \--"

"Do you want me to call an ambulance?"

"...A what?"

Wow, Kenny adjusted his footing, this guy must have literally been raised under a rock. "Uh, do you want me to call help? Your parents, maybe?"

"No!"

That was an urgent yell. Kenny put together the pieces. He was dealing with a runaway.

Wasn't sure he could blame the kid if the sheltering was so strong that the concept of an _ambulance_ was foreign. _Geez_.

Kenny took a seat on the ground, if he left the kid out here with that level of naivety something bad was almost guaranteed to happen. He'd coax the kid out of hiding, figure out where he lived, and walk him home. Easy-peesy. Then he'd take the time on his way back to work to rework his schedule all over again.

"What's your name, dude?"

"...Excuse me?"

"Your name?" Kenny's concern grew, "You _do_ have one, right?"

"Of course I do!" The voice snapped, "I just don't see why I should have to share it with you!"

A temper. Oh well, no matter. Kenny could work with that.

"...Alright, I'll call you Mr. Angrypants."

"My name is Kyle!" he raged.

Hook, line, sinker.

"Nice to meet'cha, Kyle. I'm Kenny."

Kyle groaned, clearly realizing the foolish trap he'd fallen prey to.

"Nice to meet you, Kenny." the voice grumbled, forced, like manners that had been strictly imposed. Kenny felt for the guy, just a bit.

"You said you're looking for your brother? Does he normally go out this early?"

There was hesitation in Kyle's voice, "I... he... he left a long time ago."

"Oh..."

"He was taken." Kyle amended.

"Shit, what?" Kenny hadn't heard anything about a kidnapping, was it being covered up? Wouldn't be the first time--

"My dad too."

"Ah..." A divorce. Geez, Kyle really needed to learn how to phrase shit, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Why are you sorry?" There was a mounting panic in Kyle's voice, "Did you take them!?"

Holy shit buckets, Kenny sort of wanted to have a word with the parent that _had_ raised this kid because common turns of phrases were apparently not in his vocabulary.

"No, I mean--look, Kyle? I just think it's awful that happened to you."

"Oh..." he sounded embarrassed, sheepish, "Okay, then."

"Do you want me to help you find your brother?" He could probably drop the kid off at the father's house and the parents could figure out the custody issues later.

"You'd... you'd do that for me?"

"Sure, why not." Kenny shrugged, "I've got nothing but time on my hands."

 _Liar_! Screeched the Olympic level inner gymnast mid-stretching. Kenny ignored him.

"...You're the nicest person I've ever met, I think."

 _Wow_ , very sheltered. Kenny put that aside for later, "Should we start looking now then?"

"No... I'm... I'm gonna go home for today. The smell--it's really strong and it's making me nauseous. I don't think I can go any further today. Can I... can I come back later? Will you be here?"

So many logistic questions to be worked out but all Kenny could wonder was why the kid sounded like he was going to retreat further into the forest. No one lived up there, right?

Maybe that's why he was so sheltered...

"Sure, I can--" work my scheduling gymnast to death, "--probably be here around the same time tomorrow. Do you want to try again then?"

"Yeah..." Kyle hesitated before repeating, "Yeah. Let's do that. Thank you, Kenny."

There was a rustle and the sound of a hasty retreat but Kenny decided against paying it too much mind. He really did have to get to work if he still wanted to have a job come tomorrow.

Kyle who lived in the forest with divorced parents and no apparent socialization. Weird guy. Kenny couldn't say he disliked talking to him though.

\--

Another day, another attempt. The cool breeze didn’t offer much solace to the failed effort but the oddly the voice of a stranger did.

"What's your brothers name? Would probably help me find him."

"Ike. He's-- he was a small kid. Black hair, brown eyes, and-- his favorite color was blue." Kyle's voice strained. He couldn't continue.

"How old was he when you last saw him?"

"I--I'm not sure. Three, I think?" God, he was a terrible brother.

"It's okay, we'll find him. What did you guys do together?" Kenny's voice was so friendly and calm.

"I was a little shit... I played shitty games, kick the baby, or hide and seek and leaving him alone while I went to get a snack. I... I'm an awful brother. It's--it's all my fault."

"Hey, hey, no. It's not your fault. It's okay." Kyle hiccupped and realized how close tears really were. "It's okay, we'll find him."

"...But what if he's already dead?"

"Then we'll nuke the motherfuckers that messed with your baby bro."

Kyle kind of really liked this Kenny guy.

While Kyle wasn’t _entirely_ sure he’d grasped whatever the fuck a nuke was, the tone promised violence so he refrained from inquiry.

"Y-yeah."

"Hey, did you know that all older brothers are assholes when they're young?"

"What?"

"My older brother--before--well, he used to mess around with me a lot. Used to tell me that microwaves would literally melt my brain if I looked at them while they cooked something."

"You believed him?"

Kenny's laugh was embarrassed, "Doubtlessly. I would run away screaming any time someone started up a microwave while I was in the room. It was awful. Even more embarrassing when I tried to warn my friends and they, quite heartlessly, made fun of me for it."

"What assholes." Kyle didn't approve of anyone mocking his new--tentative--friend.

"Eh, it's what it is. I probably would have done the same if I were in their shoes."

Why was Kenny such a forgiving boy?

"...Do... do you hate your brother for that?"

There was a pregnant pause and Kyle fretted that he'd pried too much.

"No... if he was still around, I wouldn't hate him at all." Kenny's voice sounded watery, "I just want my older brother back, to be honest."

"...What happened to him?"

"A lot of things. It's--it's all in the past now, I guess, but I would give anything to get him back. Endure a thousand more ridiculous lies about toasters and other household appliances. I--I'm sure your brother feels the same."

Kyle curled up and tried not to let his tears be heard as he listened to the hurt drip from the voice of his new friend.

\--

At least today his little inner gymnast could take a rest. No work for the next few hours. Who knew how many days he’d spent talking to the strange voice of a boy in the woods? He’d lost count.

But he couldn’t help working his schedule to death arranging for it.

"Do you always help strangers?"

That was a difficult question to answer. Kenny tried anyway.

"When I can."

"Why?"

"Ever seen Spiderman?" Long shot.

"Spider-what?"

"Yeah, didn't think so," Kenny laughed, "I'll lend you a comic sometime. It runs on some bullshit philosophy that those with power have the responsibility to help those without."

"You say bullshit but that's what you do, isn't it?"

Bless this kid, he was way too naive for his own good. Kenny leaned against his favored tree and viewed the sky.

"I don't help people because I have a responsibility to." He thought of the stars. He thought of world screaming around him. He thought of his own impossibly small hands, "I _choose_ who I am and what I do. I am choosing to help some people and hurt other people. I take responsibility for my decisions."

"Isn't that the same thing?" Kyle shot back.

"Depends on how you look at it. I have pretty limited control in my life, it's a matter of external responsibility versus internal responsibility."

Kyle paused, thoughtfully, "If it doesn't fit, why did you bring it up then?"

Kenny shrugged, "It's close enough, I guess. No one’s ever asked me for further detail. Actually, no one’s asked me at all."

"What is your power then?"

The sky above him lit with sunlight through clouds, deceptively bright and barely warm.

"I'm a star." he decided.

Kyle snorted, "Stars are dumb."

Such a simple and derisive comment but Kenny felt a grin stretch his cheeks, melancholy departing in favor a giddiness growing in his gut.

"Aren't they?!"

Words he didn't even know he needed to hear, spoken with such simplicity.

\--

"Met a girl named Henrietta." Kenny's voice began, hesitant like there was something he couldn't stop mulling over.

"Oh?" Kyle didn't like her already and he couldn't fathom why, "What did you talk about?"

"Uh... I needed her help?" His voice was unsure and it really spoke volumes of how much he must be thinking, "With, uh, a project I've been working on. On Lovecraft."

Kyle remembered reading some books by that author in the family library. He huffed. "You could have just asked me. I know all about Lovecraft."

An exaggeration and pointless bravado, Kyle stood his ground though.

Well, for all of a few seconds before Kenny's chuckle melted away his displeasure, "It's a bit of a specialized part of it. It's good to know you know stuff about it though. I might hit you up for intel, dude."

It was so hard to be annoyed with Kenny. Even after weeks elapsed from days gone by. Morning after morning spent in the company of a companion unseen.

"Did she have the answers you needed?"

Kenny sighed, long and tired. Kyle felt concern tug at him and he wanted, not for the first time, to actually reveal himself.

"Sort of... it's... it's stupidly complicated actually."

"Is it actually complicated or are you making it complicated?"

Quiet filled the space between them and when Kenny's voice could finally be heard again, it was lighter somehow. Kyle felt his heart sing just a bit that he'd been able to help.

"That... you're actually completely right. No point worrying about it now. The problem in front of me. And, if by chance, I ever _do_ run into something that can--if I'm able to--point is I'll just deal with shit as it comes. No point complicating shit."

Kyle laughed, "What the heck is that kind of logic?" He shook his head, smile replacing the earlier feeling of displacement, "That's just like you."

\--

Kyle's voice was strained today, hesitant and shy in a way that the fiery boy never was.

Kenny decided against pointing it out and just offered mild conversation. Kyle would tell him when the boy was ready.

"Karen joined the newspaper club and she's wrecking shit already. Last week my lil girl wrote a sarcastic and extremely passive aggressive article about me and actually managed to get that shit published. I can't even be mad, that's just plain skill."

"She sounds like an amazing kid," Kyle snorted weakly.

"She is." Kenny assured. "Best fucking kid out there, bar none."

"Can't agree there. Ike's better."

There wasn't any real strength behind the words.

"I'll settle for a tie." Kenny bargained.

Kyle chuckled a little, "I can settle for that."

Kenny considered disrespecting the other boys wishes and just making an approach. Clearly something was wrong and Kyle might not actually talk about it after all.

No. That wouldn't do. Kenny re-angled his thoughts.

"What's your favorite color?"

"...What?"

"Favorite color."

"Uhh, orange, I guess?" Kyle sounded confused.

"Oh, cool, me too, dude."

"For real?"

"What's the color of the sky?"

"...Blue? Kenny, what's gotten into you?"

"Where is the nearest fallen leaf?"

"...By my foot?"

"Cool, so I want you to do me a favor. Close your eyes."

There was a pause that made Kenny wonder if Kyle didn't quite trust him enough for this exercise.

"Okay." Kyle's voice said finally.

"Think about that leaf. Try and bring it into your brain. What color was it?"

"Uh... I'm not sure, red? Or orange?"

"Think about the sky." Kenny eased, "What color is the leaf? In your eyes?"

Kyle's breath was even, "It's... I'm not sure. Can I open my eyes?"

"Go for it, dude." Kenny allowed, eyes still watching the morning sky.

"What was that about?" Kyle's voice had returned to it's normal tenor. "The leaf is brown, by the way."

"For just a moment, didn't you wonder if the leaf was colored by the sky?"

"How the shit--?" Kyle didn't sound as alarmed as he did surprised, little laughs at the oddity releasing in a tensionless moment, "How did you do that?"

Kenny laughed, "Magic, dude. Are you feeling a bit better? Wanna talk about it?"

"No, I'm good." Kyle was giggling in disbelief, "...thanks, Kenny. You utter weirdo."

"You're welcome, my dude."

\--

Like tiptoes into a forbidden path, Kyle repeated his incursions.

The voice at the edge of the forest, the one that smelled like decay but spoke gently and casually, greeted him when he got back. He still remained hidden though.

Even if 'Kenny' seemed like a pretty cool guy, there was no guarantee he wasn't actually one of those terrible creatures. There's no guarantee he wasn't one of the many that consumed his baby brother.

There was just no guarantee.

He reminded himself of this often but it was still hard. He tried to get an eyeful without revealing himself but all he spotted was a bit of blond before he'd had to duck behind a tree.

"--my mom just doesn't get it. I know--I know she loves me but she doesn't _listen_ to me."

"I get ya, man. It's the worst."

Kenny had met him every morning without fail.

"Ya know, it's not like I really _like_ working so much but I gotta, ya know? There's really no other way and I know Karen doesn't really get it yet. I don't really want her to have to get it yet."

"...You're really strong, Kenny. I don't know if--it's hard trying to protect your siblings."

They shared a silence and he could hear the unspoken questions that Kenny wouldn't force on him. About Ike. About his dad. About whether they were going to leave the forest today.

The smell was still too much though. His skin crawled and his body revolted.

"I used to play with my grandma, until she passed away, and I kept repeating everything she said thoughtlessly. I didn't find out until my mom caught me that my grandma had an extreme gutter mouth."

"No shit?"

"Kurwa yeah."

"What the fuck does 'kurwa' mean?"

"Uhh... you know, I'm not sure. My mom always just said was a terrible word and forbade me saying it."

So many days and still he couldn't handle it.

Still couldn't get up the guts to face Kenny.

What if it really was all a trap?

Or worse yet, what if Kenny wouldn't want to be friends after seeing him? He'd never seen another person his own age. What if he was hideous?

"There's this stupid project that determines my entire grade and I hate it. I hate it with every fiber of my being. It's so stupid and time consuming and ok, I just--I don't have the kind of time to fuck around with meaningless bullshit like that."

Kyle's heart clenched, "Are you sure you should be wasting your time talking with me? You sound so busy..."

Why would he say that?! Now Kenny was going to realize he'd been wasting his time and _leave_.

Stupid, _stupid_.

Kenny's laugh filled the air, light and easy, "Why would spending time with you be a waste? You're my friend."

Kyle could have died happy right there. Instead he very awkwardly insisted that he had to go home.

He only realized as he was whooping and running through the trees how that sounded and spent the rest of his time cursing how stupid and awkward he was.

It was okay though, because Kenny was still there the following day.

\--

This was less than ideal.

"Go home, Kyle."

Kenny clenched his jaw and stared down the shady bunch before him. He'd been in situations like this before. It wouldn't end well. But he couldn't die. Not for long.

Kyle could.

"B-but--" the voice in the trees sounded terrified and nauseated, Kenny remembered that the smells of people were an _issue_ for him. Probably the entire reason his mom insisted on keeping him confined. Some dumb condition that made it near impossible for the boy to socialize.

"Do it. I'll be fine."

He wouldn't. But he also would.

The men were jeering and closing in. One made an effort to head in the direction of Kyle's voice. That particular one was surprised to find Kenny's boot knocking him backwards.

And so it began. It would be a short-lived fight. Kenny was an experienced fighter but these men were armed, dangerous, and Kenny had nothing but his work apron tucked in his backpack.

It was over quickly enough. He had to tell Kyle a few more times to run but eventually he did hear the sounds of retreat.

So, he let himself bleed out. It would be fine. It should be fine. He'd come back tomorrow and Kyle will have forgotten the entire traumatizing event.

Except Kyle never returned. No matter how many mornings Kenny waited at the edge of the forest.

\--Age 16--

"What kind of freak-show are you?"

His heart slammed against his ribcage, anxiety and terror mixing into an all-powerful immobilizing force. He couldn't speak. He could barely even breathe.

That _smell_ was still something that would haunt his waking nightmares but that was fine. It would be fine.

He just needed to breathe.

He was older now. He'd practiced. He'd entered town.

He could find Ike. Finally. He wasn't weak anymore.

"Oi, he's even got a cape!"

"It's too early for Halloween, kid."

'Drunks', that was how Kenny had described men like this, all those years ago. He was bigger now though. Stronger.

'Drunks' were what killed Kenny.

"We don't take too kindly to your kind around here."

They were getting aggressive. Kyle reminded himself to breathe. He needed to breathe.

God, he couldn't breathe. He just remembered the sounds of Kenny's gurgled breath and the jeers of the monsters and he'd _run away, he always ran away when people needed him_ \--he couldn't do it.

He clutched his cloak, trying so hard to catch his breath, if he could just catch his breath he could fight them off--if he could just--

The breaths were coming shorter and the drunks were looming closer. Was this how he died? Immobilized by smells and breathless--

"Pick on someone your own size."

The voice was deep, gravelly, and not at all belonging to the 'drunks' that had encircled him. Kyle's eyes darted about, trying in desperation to find the source.

Was it another creature!? Was he going to get murdered and consumed and--

The shadowy figure landed gracefully from a height, Kyle couldn't say where, but the drunks were all gasping in terror and edging away at the sight.

" _Mysterion_!" One gasped.

Kyle tried to make himself smaller. He tried really hard. If the drunks were terrified of this new figure that meant it was something more formidable and potentially not an ally.

Probably not an ally. He'd only had one friend in this city and the creatures within had take him away.

Kyle couldn't ponder this more though. _Mysterion,_ as the lowly bunch had to referred to him, was already spinning into action. It was mesmerizing, like watching a dance. A very, very violent dance.

A fist in someone's sternum and a kick to the head and suddenly the drunks were retreating.

The dark being turned its attention towards Kyle and he wished he could run. He really, really wished his legs would start listening and begin a hasty departure.

They, like the useless appendages they were, remained completely paralyzed by fear.

"Are you alright?"

Kyle's eyes widened and he barely managed a nod before the shock of question set in.

Was he... was he being protected by some strange night creature?

"Wh-who are you?"

He hated how his voice crumpled in on itself, anxiety and fear on full display.

"Mysterion." it said simply in return. Kyle nodded dumbly.

"Right." was that really the most intellectual response he could manage? Kyle silently berated himself.

"Where do you live, kid? I'll take you home."

Alarm filled Kyle as he considered the possibility of this strange creature following him home. It was dark and suspicious and violent. Not to mention the _smell._ The smell alone was nauseating. That had to mean this creature was dangerous, right?

"N-no. I'm fine. I'll walk home alone."

Kyle really didn't appreciate expressions of deep skepticism from dark creatures of the night. Rude much? He wasn't weak, he was just a bit freaked out because of all of the oddities the outside world had. That was all.

"Are you sure?"

Kyle's anger finally sparked, "Of course I'm sure, _kurwa_! I wouldn't say I was if I wasn't!"

It occurred to him slowly that he was yelling at someone that helped him. Embarrassment flushed his cheeks but nothing seemed to move the impassive expression of darkness on the strangers face.

Kyle really wanted a poker face like that.

"Okay then. Just try not to get into any more trouble. I don't want to rescue you twice."

Kyle barely bit back a snide remark, opting instead to huff in displeasure.

"Be careful, kid."

And the strange man melted away into the darkness.

Kyle stared after him completely dumbstruck. Maybe the dark creature wasn't a bad person? He couldn't seem to make a decision on the matter, flip-flopping from caution to a tentative trust at the flick of a moment.

He should return home.

...He still hadn't found even the slightest clue of Ike's whereabouts.

He steeled himself.

He needed an ally. Ideally if you could have someone like Kenny but… Kenny was long gone. there is no getting Kenny back.

Kyle considered the dark creature that had departed. Could he…? No, that was a terrible idea. He didn't know anything about the stranger. Also there could be a debate made over the smell of death hanging in the air.

What if, what if he followed him? He could investigate and if the creature was trustworthy than maybe.

His decision was made for him a moment later. The sound of a scream echoed in the empty alleyway. Somewhere some distance away but his keen hearing could pinpoint a location.

It was such a scared scream.

The old comic about Spiderman and responsibility echoed in his memory. Responsibility and strength. Kyle had both.

Kenny would help.

He wasn't Kenny though and Kenny was dead.

It was do or die. He could go home, like he did every time. Run away. Like he did every single time...up until today. Leave someone to the creatures of the night. Leave them to the cruel creatures that haunt this world.

He remembered Ike. Alone and scared. His father. Brave and strong. Kenny. Kind and courageous. There was a scream a distance away and he could do something.

He _had_ to do something.

The nauseating scent was dissipating. No, it was getting stronger, but his tolerance was rising. It was difficult to put into words. His mind was clouding with a single minded determination.

His body ached for movement, action, to take on the cruelty all around him and come out on top.

He would come out on top.

He ran towards the screams.

He didn't make it in time. Or rather, there was nothing he could do in the face of something like this.

It was a fire. Kyle's eyes lit on the fire with countless other onlookers as the blaze consumed a building. This wasn't the sort of trouble he was equipped to help with. How could he save anyone?

The building was already so lit up in flames that anyone that hadn't already escaped was doomed--

There was a blur of darkness into the building. Kyle's eyes locked onto it in shock.

No way...

It wasn't long after that a second floor window was smashed open, a young girl was sent into the arms of a recently arrived man in red. Hoses were hitting the house with water now.

But the epitome of darkness that Kyle had seen enter still hadn't exited.

A full grown man stumbled out the front, gasping for air.

"Mysterion--" he was gasping, another man in red was helping him, "--still in there--"

Kyle's feet were moving before he could think.

If he'd accepted the walk home Mysterion wouldn't be in the building.

Whatever creature Mysterion was, he was a protector. He was a hero.

He was _good_.

And he was going to burn to death.

No one was going in to save him. Kyle's decision crystallized into diamond.

By that time he was already in the building, all cries for him to stop lost were in the haze of fire.

"Mysterion!" he called, unsure he wasn't already too late.

The one time he'd run towards danger instead of away and chances were he was too late.

But someone had to help the strange creature that saved.

All those strange smelling creatures outside were content to just _watch_. Kyle wouldn't watch. He couldn't.

Never again.

 _There_! Kyle zeroed in on a mess of purple fabric under some burning wood.

"Mysterion!"

The collapsed figure twitched, startled, before ice blue eyes rose to meet his.

"...You?" The voice was weak, hoarse, "Get out of here. Hurr--"

He wasn't even able to finish before another piece of ceiling landed on him, crushing his throat. He gasped.

There was no time.

Kyle's arms moved without consulting his brain, throwing aside the beams and picking up the now immobile body.

Was he really too late?

Labored breath met his ears and he was able to discern a faint heartbeat.

He rushed out of the building, jumping out of a window and into the night.

He hadn't attempted flight in ages. It was ill-advised to try it in such a strange circumstance while carrying dead-weight. So ill-advised that he landed roughly behind the building, barely avoiding dropping the hurt creature in his arms.

"Kurwa mać," he cursed, assessing the situation.

He should just leave Mysterion with the creatures in red out front. They seemed mostly focused on helping the victims.

How could he trust them though? Everyone up here was potentially the sort his mother had warned him about.

Mysterion needed help. He would die otherwise.

He couldn't be trusted with just anyone.

Perhaps it was over confidence that led to his decision. The smell wasn't bothering him so much anymore, he'd braved a burning building and come out on top, and there was a boy in his arms that he could _save_.

No one else. He would do it.

The foolish decision was made in an instant of foolishness. Truly unfortunate that when Kyle decided on something, regardless of how ill-thought out, he had the tendency to stick to his guns.

He hid in the shadows, away from the eyes of the creatures in red and the gawking onlookers.

He would get out of town.

Through the forest.

Into the lake.

Back home.

He could treat Mysterion there.

\--

The world spun.

Kenny tried to find words. His mouth opened to make a groan of pain, an exclamation of shock, to say anything at all. The unfamiliar roof above him and the pain echoing through his body offered no assistance.

His voice was gone.

Kenny considered the possibilities. There were a range of injuries that could have taken away his ability to speak. More than once he'd dealt with that condition. It was well enough, when died he'd be as good as new. He figured the current injury had to be in the throat. Not only was there an earth-shattering pain there but he wasn't able to create any sounds.

Usually when it was a brain injury he could make sounds, just not form language.

His inability to speak wasn't the issue, not really, not when there was an unfamiliar ceiling overhead.

Last he'd checked he'd been Mysterion.

So, logically speaking, whoever had rescued him from certain death was most likely now aware of his identity and that carried more problems than death ever could.

He exercised his memories, spinning them around to try and remember who could have possibly saved him from burning to death. He'd seen someone, someone he knew, someone familiar...

The boy in the halloween get-up from the alley! How could he...? The beams...

"You're awake."

That voice was oddly eerie. Kenny tried to move his head to get an idea but he only managed a twitch before his head throbbed at the effort.

"Aren't you going to say anything?"

The voice sounded strained, upset. Somehow familiar...

Kenny decided to spend a moment assessing his injuries. Until he knew the full extent of his bodies condition, he wouldn't be able to do anything.

Burns. He could feel them clearly on his chest, neck, arm, and legs. There were some scratches, minor, he'd feel for them later. He tried moving various limbs. No surprise, the burned arm was also broken. It must have taken the brunt of the falling beams.

Burning green eyes filled his vision. He blinked.

"I took a real risk rescuing you, you know. The least you could do is say hi."

What a peevish child. Very familiar. Kenny wracked his brain for a snobby brat in his acquaintance.

Outwardly he moved his lips, attempting to create sound, hopefully showcasing his injury.

"You can't talk...?"

Give the kid a fucking medal. Kenny smiled apologetically.

"...I'm sorry. I'm just tense. If my mom realizes I brought you here--let's just not let that happen, okay?" His eyes were boring holes into his own.

Kenny gave as close to a nod as he could, puzzle-pieces clicking to place.

Snappish, terrified of mother, that _voice_ just deeper with age...

Kyle. It was Kyle.

What a way to reunite with an old friend. Kenny couldn't even laugh, quite literally, but also figuratively. How many times he'd searched those woods in hopes of finding the house that Kyle had hiked from.

Hoping to explain to the boy that he was still alive.

Half hoping that one person in all of reality remembered his death.

He half wondered if he'd been talking to a fairy all that time but here he was, a real boy... albeit, a bit of a stranger one than he had anticipated.

"I wish you would say something."

Kyle's eyes were unfocused. Panicked.

Kenny tried to voice a question, lifting his good hand to touch the other boy. Kyle flinched away, but not out of sight. That was good, Kenny still couldn't move his head.

"You smell so weird."

His breath was uneven.

There was an uncomfortable edge to everything, like a mountain lion staring him down before an attack, Kyle's voice didn't sound stable. Panic, confusion, and a strange undertone that was unrecognizable. And erratic.

It was around this moment that Kenny found fear.

Erratic people did strange things and Kenny couldn't defend himself. Not in his current condition. What did he know about Kyle? Outside of their conversations? Who knew what sort of person Kyle could have changed into in the last three years? Who knew what kind of person he could have always been?

He tried to touch the boy again, a placating hand on the shoulder. Meant to settle nerves. Meant to calm him down.

Kyle snatched the hand. Quickly. Kenny's eyes struggled to catch up with the movement. He was sure it happened and that he'd seen it but he couldn't grasp the entirety of it.

That wasn't important.

Kyle's eyes were carefully examining his hand, the sloppily applied gauze blocking most of it from view. Kenny let his hand relax in the hold, if Kyle was so focused maybe it would ease whatever dangerous pressure was eating at his senses.

Maybe the isolation had finally taken its toll on Kyle. Taking away the sanity the boy once had.

Kenny had faced danger so many times in his life. There was something distinct to the oppressive force of impending doom. Something that was making his skin crawl.

Something that made Kyle's gaze seem intense and terrifying.

"So strange..."

His voice was distant, like he couldn't understand it himself. Slowly he unwrapped a bit of the gauze, eyes intent on the still open gash beneath.

Wow, no wonder Kenny felt woozy. That particular injury had to have bled quite a bit.

Kyle slowly lifted his other hand to his mouth and Kenny realized distantly it had been gloved. Kyle tugged off the glove with his teeth and brought a tentative finger to touch the cut.

Kenny didn't flinch even though it was painful. Showing weakness to someone he couldn't fully assess yet would be unacceptable.

"The color is strange... it looks like... that can't be..."

He was examining his finger before to Kenny's immediate horror, he licked it.

Kyle's eyes blew wide. Kenny begged his unresponsive legs to forget the pain and move. In an instant the true danger of the situation set in. Kenny had seen expressions like those.

But never quite this.

Green eyes seemed to glow with heat, face set into a dazed intent, lips curved so slightly upwards and his mouth parted to reveal canines that were just _a touch_ too long.

Oh god.

Just his fucking luck.

Kyle's eyes didn't seem to see him though. Not really. Even with all that insane intensity glowing behind those eyes, Kenny could see they weren't trained on _him_.

It was trained on something beneath his skin.

He remembered, Kyle's complaints about smell, his mother's insistence on isolation, the way Kyle tended to refer to people like they were something _other_ , and that one time that Kyle had brought a thermos of 'juice', but the air had smelt faintly of blood.

Kenny had honestly thought nothing of it. How stupid.

Kyle's mouth was tracing the gash. It could have been kisses in any other context. It wasn't.

Kenny wasn't a fan of burning to death but being slowly drained of life from an old--slightly deranged--friend seemed much worse. He would take the burning building back.

"Why...?" Kyle's voice sounded puzzled, and Kenny shivered in terror when something wet caressed the gash.

The shiver seemed to snap Kyle a bit out of his daze, though not entirely. At least the boy had put down Kenny's hand. Small mercies. Kenny tried to see if he could convince the poor thing to move again but his entire body felt paralyzed.

The pain, blood loss, or fear. Kenny had no idea which was the culprit but he decided he resented them all equally. He could, probably, stand his own against Kyle in good condition.

He could maybe even talk his way out of the situation if his throat wasn't damaged.

"What exactly are you, Mysterion?"

Kenny sort of wanted to scream. Just a little. Boy with giant canines and an intense interest in blood was asking _him_ what he was? Okay, so maybe Kenny was perhaps less than human given his immortal status but _still--_

Kenny's thoughts hit a halt. Something like fear and hope mixing into one.

_"Only an immortal can kill another immortal."_

Words he'd heard from Henrietta so long ago. Words he'd thought about more times than he could count.

Weren't... weren't vampires supposed to be immortals? At least according to folktales?

If Kyle bled him dry, was that it?

Would he finally die for good?

"Are you crying?"

Something almost human was re-entering Kyle's eyes, the dangerous animal from before retreating.

Kenny had to know.

The prospect of death held no terror to him, given his extensive knowledge of all after-lives, but he also didn't plan that he was going to die quite yet. He'd had a laundry list of things to get done first.

But...

Was this his only chance?

If it was his only chance he needed to take it. He'd sworn to himself that if he'd ever had an opportunity he would _take it_.

He didn't want to be trapped on this horrid plane of existence dying in cycles of agony for all of eternity. He couldn't. He wouldn't.

He didn't want to die today. He wanted to know how Karen did on her physics test, if he got the new job he'd applied for, what Stan would say when he told him vampires were in fact a real thing, to see his parents again...

...But he was so tired.

Did he have to do all those things? Rest, an end to so much pain, was potentially right in front of him.

Kenny summoned his strength. It might be his only opportunity. If Kyle was only experiencing temporary insanity, what if he didn't agree to kill Kenny later? The boy in Kenny's memories wasn't the murderous sort.

How could he incite that insanity?

Kenny lifted his hand again, pure terror jumping through his veins and making the movement jagged. Kyle's eyes had focused on it again, curiously, something like a cat watching a laser pointer. Good. Kenny tried to ease his pulse but the sound of his own heart was too loud to suppress.

Oh god, he might die, for real. It would be painful and awful. It might be his last death.

Worst case scenario he woke up in his own bed and away from deranged boy. That was a pretty good worst case.

He missed the mouth. Hand instead touching the cheek of the menace hovering over him. That would be counterproductive. Too gentle.

Kenny kinda liked the feel of his cheek though.

His fingers lost strength and slid down slowly. Kyle caught the hand, eyes still so intent and growing in sanity.

Kenny could curse the gods for his shit luck.

"What are you trying to tell me?"

What body parts could he move?

He edged up his head, ignoring the pain that accompanied the motion.

Kyle looked nonplussed.

Fine.

Kenny tugged the hand holding his gently, bringing it to his neck. All Kyle would need to do was squeeze. He caught the boys eyes.

He couldn't speak but he could mime words. He held the hand in place.

 _Kill me_. He mouthed, hoping Kyle wasn't hopeless at lip reading.

The boys eyes widened and his body jerked away completely, darting completely out of Kenny's sight.

"Did you just..." Kyle sounded pained, horrified, it really was the boy he'd met so long ago. "Why would you...?"

There was the distinct sound of pacing. Agitated and confused.

"Okay, okay, let's calm down for a second. Put together what we know. You," Kyle paused, shaken, "are a creature from that terrible town but you saved me from those other creatures from the town so I figure you're not all bad but--" there was a frustrated moment where Kyle tried to find words, "--inside you is, I don't know, how is that possible? What are you?"

Kenny sort of guessed already but the tirade more or less confirmed that Kyle hadn't the faintest idea what he was. Seemed to be under the impression that people were the scary ones.

Well, he wasn't wrong, Kenny supposed. And it was a smart move for the parents. If they don't want their teenage son going all 'terrorizing innocent victims in the night', it was probably better to convince him that his walking-talking happy meals were actually terrifying monsters.

Slick. Short-sighted, but slick nonetheless.

"And you want me to...? Why would you?" Kyle's pace increased in sound, "I'm not going to--! I mean, I don't understand..."

The boy entered his vision again, eyes lost and fear on his face. Kenny felt guilt build. If he'd succeeded in forcing Kyle to kill him, chances were that the boy would feel _horrible_ about it.

Kenny decided it was time to sit up. He'd find a way to apologize and then kill himself real quick to get out of this awkward situation.

He fucked up.

In trying to sit up he'd put in too much strength and over-compensated, losing the strength rebalance himself and falling on into Kyle.

The other boy stumbled back from the unexpected weight but held Kenny still with surprising strength. Funny. Kenny had never thought that Kyle looked like the muscular type.

Oh, right, vampire. They were supposed to be strong, right?

The pressure re-entered the room. Kenny took note that there wasn't really a distance between them.

The distance between Kyle's face and his racing pulse. Yep. He was also too dizzy from the sudden movement to move away.

Just fucking dandy.

"It's so loud," Kyle's voice was hitched, distant, Kenny knew what he was talking about though. His pulse was throbbing in his own ears at an unearthly pace. "What is that smell?"

The steadying grip on him grew stiff.

"It smells just..." Kyle's lips grazed his shoulder, Kenny shuddered, " _Kurwa mać_." he cursed.

Oh, crap. He'd been licked. Yep. It was official. Kyle was losing his shit.

Fingers slid up Kenny's side to rest on his heart, feeling the pace and increasing it unintentionally.

Should he stop this? Could he? Kenny weighed the options for suicide. Biting off his own tongue might just result in just what he was trying to avoid, given the amount of blood involved.

"Your heartbeat is strong. I wonder why creatures like you have hearts." He was speaking against Kenny's skin. A gentle contemplative tone that in no way suited the tension wracking Kenny's senses, a gentle hand brushed at the hairs that touched his neck, "Your hair is blond... like Kenny's was..."

There probably wasn't an emotion to describe the feeling that built in his chest at the mention. He didn't have time to either. Hot breath blew on his jugular and then there was a pain assaulting his senses, enough to numb the ache of his broken arm and burned limbs.

Like a fire ant.

 _But so much worse_.

He was paralyzed in the agony, convulsing in an aftershock, and a voiceless scream pushing its way out of his throat. Kyle's grip was unaffected, ferocity growing to the extent that Kenny was quite sure his neck was going to get ripped off.

And then it stopped, leaving Kenny breathless in suffering and unable to see past the spots in his eyes. Kyle was saying something but the words were completely missed.

He tried to scream, hoping that the sound would bring back some semblance of _being_. He didn't feel real. He didn't feel dead either.

Was this it? Had Kyle killed him for good? Was that why it was so horrible?

The room rushed back into focus and Kenny gripped for something, anything, some proof that he was still alive.

 _Please_ , he screamed without a voice. _Please_! He begged, unknowing of what he wanted.

The pain returned.

Faintly out of the corners of his shattered mind he could hear the sounds that accompanied it and felt sick at the sound.

 _Help_ , he mouthed, tasting his own tears as the familiar sensation of blood loss truly began to set in.

 _Now_ he was dying. He welcomed it. Any ending to the pain that the bite had inflicted was welcomed. He needed the agony to stop.

A gentle sensation suddenly numbed his senses, allowing him to see the world around him. It was a tongue, it had to be, sliding over the punctures. The burning faded like a salve had been applied.

Kenny wondered briefly about vampire biology before tossing the considerations away. With his injuries and blood loss, it was extremely doubtful he'd make it out of this one alive. Especially considering Kyle's self-control had taken a short vacation.

Speaking of, the boy’s voice was saying something, rushed and panicked. Kenny wouldn't have been able to make sense of it if he tried. He didn't have the energy to try either.

He was able to register that he'd been lifted gently and placed somewhere soft. There was the vague sensation of someone patching him up but he couldn't place any of it. Eventually he wasn't able to hold onto consciousness.

\--

Kyle sat by the bed.

What had he done?

Mother was still at work. She'd be gone for awhile yet.

What had he done?

He'd brought Mysterion here to _help_ him.

He'd wondered what sort of creature Mysterion was, why his body was full of--why he--but he was avoiding the question that was terrifying him into paralysis.

What was _he_?

What if Mysterion wasn't the strange one. What if _he_ was the strange one? His heart crackled with uncertainty, stomach jittery at the thought.

He hadn't been able to control himself.

He'd never been unable to control himself. Not once. He'd made decisions that were regretful in the past and even lost his temper on occasion but he'd never been _unable_ to stop himself.

His eyes shifted uneasily to the hastily patched holes he'd put into Mysterion.

A boy his own age.

A boy that had saved people from a fire.

That had saved him from drunks.

A boy that had asked for death.

Why had Mysterion asked for that...? He still couldn't understand. He couldn't understand any of it. It was maddening. That smell that made him so uneasy, it wasn't because it was unpleasant, was it? It bubbled up something inside him and made him behave erratically.

He could vomit.

The knowledge that the contents of his stomach would be what was previously _inside_ the clearly agonized boy was all the more nauseating. Was he a monster?

He'd _hurt_ Mysterion.

He didn't know if Mysterion would make it out of this. His injuries were already so severe from the fire. Why had he even brought the boy here? Why did his hubris always hurt those around him?

Mysterion stirred for the first time in hours.

He wasn't ready for this. How could he apologize?

Should he apologize?

If he was a monster, was he just doing what he was supposed to? Mysterion had asked to be killed too and that _taste_ \--

Kyle clutched his head, pulling at the tangle of curls on his head. What was he thinking. Oh, god, what had he done?

How could he even consider doing even worse?

He was a monster. Mysterion shouldn't be the one to die but one of them certainly should.

The creatures in town weren't predators, they were prey and Kyle was the monster in the darkness.

He wanted to cry.

A gentle hand touched his shoulder. Kyle froze, eyes slowly moving to see the upright boy. How long had he sat there?

 _Don't cry_ , the boy mouthed, voicelessly, _It's okay_.

Kyle's breath hitched and a sob escaped. Mysterion used the arm not tied up in a sling to rub his upper back gently, not closing the distance between them anymore than that.

The reason as to why caused more heaving sobs to rattle out of his chest and explode from his throat into the world, wet burning tears streaking his cheeks.

Mysterion continued his ministrations. No contempt in his face and a splash of guilt marring his features.

What a kind person. Almost taken before his time. By Kyle.

For what? What purpose could he possibly have?

A hunger inside. Something so delicious it drove him to madness.

"I'm sorry, I'm so fucking sorry,"

 _I know, it's okay_.

"It's _not_ okay! I--I couldn't--I almost--you were..." Kyle broke into another broken weep. "What _am_ I?!"

He didn't think Mysterion would have an answer to that question. He'd assumed he was something too strange for a person to name. A horror tale of the dark so decrepit and awful that it couldn't be described.

That was why Mysterion's expression confused him. A hesitance. A knowing.

"You know... don't you?" he wasn't asking but it came out that way.

Mysterion shrugged, a complicated smile on his lips.

"What am I? Tell me, please, I need to know."

There was that skeptical look that Kyle had first seen in the alleyway. Kenny's hand moved from his back to gesture at his throat.

Right. Couldn't talk. Kyle wasn't all that hot at lip reading either. The only reason he'd managed thus far were due to the clear context and simplicity of sentences.

So he was something that couldn't be described shortly. He tucked that piece of information away.

"Can you write?" Kyle asked hopefully.

Mysterion shook his head, waving his working hand, still covered in burns and a gash that Kyle didn't want to think about.

It was his left hand.

"You're right handed." Kyle surmised. Mysterion nodded. "Kurwa..."

Mysterion's hand landed gently on his leg and Kyle looked at it for too long before looking up to those blue eyes.

They were a bit mesmerizing. Framed by a halo of golden locks and freckles splashed on his cheeks. A blue sea of knowing and understanding. Kyle swallowed thickly, abruptly aware that he had, a few hours prior, _licked_ this guy and under any other context that might be taken quite differently.

"I'm, uh, sorry I licked you."

 _Why did he not have a brain to mouth filter_?! Kyle's mind screeched in horror, blood draining from his face.

Mysterion's face contorted and there was voiceless laughter. It was weird, seeing a face so clearly giggling on mute, but it was still oddly contagious.

 _It's okay_. Mysterion mouthed after a good long while, He continued but the sentence was too complex for Kyle to understand.

He managed to get the word _biology_ \--at least he thought that was what was mouthed, but everything else was Greek. His clear confusion seemed to amuse Mysterion all the more and it was giggle city again.

The tension in the room waned until it didn't seem real anymore. Kyle marveled at it. He wasn't the sort who could diffuse a situation. Him and his mother both tended to escalate farther and farther rather than ever seeming to calm the world.

His father had been non-confrontational but also less than skilled in the delicate bomb defusal required to deescalate a situation.

Mysterion did it with ease and while half dead.

It wasn't the first time his mind shot back to Kenny.

That had also been a skill of his. He'd always managed to calm Kyle's nerves even when the noises and smells of the upper world drove him mad.

It had probably been Kenny's gentle ability to calm him that had stopped something like this from happening sooner. Kyle felt a surge of gratefulness and grief.

 _What's wrong?_ Mysterion's eyes were gentle waves in a sea.

Kyle felt like he could share.

"Kyle! Bubbe! I'm home! Wait till you hear about the day I had."

Mutual understanding reflected in the blue eyes in front of him. Kyle wasn't sure how Mysterion understood so easily the need for silence and secrecy but he immediately went about concealing himself while Kyle rushed from the room to greet his mother.

\--

It was hard to stay awake for extended periods of time.

Kyle's temporary insanity seemed to have completely retreated because every time he was conscious, the boy was bustling to meet his needs.

It was sort of precious. Extremely dumb, but very precious.

Only Kyle would think it was a good idea to bring a half dead stranger home and try to nurse them to health. Well, and maybe Stan, guy had some ditz moments at times.

It was nice though.

He'd missed Kyle. There was something unique about the boys perspective on life. There was something interesting about how he behaved, and it was fun, in its own way.

Except when it wasn't.

He hadn't meant to flinch away from Kyle while the boy was attempting to re-bandage him. He'd felt the hand, one that had held him so firmly in place, and his body responded before he could. Terror jolting through his spine at the memory of the whatever Kyle's venom had done to his senses.

There had to be a venom. Just a bite wouldn't have hurt so horribly.

Kyle looked hurt, moments earlier talking about nothing in particular, and now looking at the space between them and Kenny's increased pulse.

"I--I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just changing your bandages." Kyle sounded sad and defensive in one. How like him.

 _I know_ , Kenny responded, willing the memory of fear to dissipate. It wasn't one he cared to carry with him.

"I'm going to go grab some more gauze, okay?" He was shaky sounding. Kenny recognized the signs.

A person that wanted to leave so they could cry alone.

He could let him too. Get the space he needed to reign in his terrified heartbeat.

He didn't want to.

Kenny reached out and took hold of Kyle's retreating hand.

 _Stay_. He asked, hoping.

Kyle gulped visibly. "Are you sure? You look--you look really scared."

 _So_?

There was that twitch at the corner of Kyle's lips, almost a smile, Kenny felt a semblance of success at managing it.

He drifted back to sleep not long after. By the time he'd reawakened, the re-bandaging was complete.

\--

Mysterion was a sassy asshole.

Kyle couldn't help but be grateful that the guy seemed to be healing up, at least a little, but damn. Kyle wasn't used to getting sassed.

"I told you, you should stay in bed for your own good!"

 _Okay, mooom!_ Mysterion rolled his eyes, pouting.

"I am totally not your mom. That would be really awkward, all things considered."

Kurwa jego mać, the brain to mouth filter he didn't have would be _much_ appreciated.

 _Why?_ Mysterion's eyes gleamed with mischief. Bastard had probably read him like a book. That wasn't _utterly mortifying beyond belief or anything_. Kyle tossed a pillow at him.

"No reason! Just--shut up, okay. I'm going to clean up around here!"

He really hoped his face wasn't as read as it felt. He didn't have to look back to know that Mysterion was doing his dumb soundless giggles.

What had he done to deserve this?

\--

A week in the Broflovski household.

A week hiding from Kyle's mom and keeping the boy company while he had a pretty understandable identity crisis.

Kenny needed to go home soon. He should have gone home sooner.

He couldn't quite bring himself to leave quite yet though. He knew he was partially to blame, even if Kyle's genius parents were the real idiots for not informing their son that 'oh hey, by the way, you suck blood and most people would call you a monster'. It was also Kyle's fault, to some extent, but Kenny was choosing not to blame him.

The entire incident clearly tore him apart.

So he'd spent a week here.

And the nights accompanying the days.

He stared at the dozing face of Kyle Broflovski, attempting to convince himself that sleep was a good idea.

He could move easier now. Some of his injuries beginning to heal and blood beginning to repopulate. There was still no other option for sleeping other than sharing a bed. Luckily the Broflovski's were apparently stereotypical loaded vampires because the bed was _huge_. He could spread his entire body out and never even touch Kyle.

It was super comfortable too, once his burns stopped searing. He'd probably never be on a bed this comfortable again in his entire life.

Everything was confusing.

His inner scheduling gymnast was still trying to calculate how much longer he could feasibly stay before he lost all his jobs, got expelled, and was officially declared actually dead-dead. It wasn't looking good.

"What's wrong?" Ah, Kyle woke up. "Can't sleep?"

Kenny shook his head, still trying to understand everything.

He should leave.

He should maybe explain to Kyle that he was immortal. Also that he was Kenny.

That was something he hadn't quite managed to bring up. Kyle seemed to think his real name was in fact Mysterion.

He couldn't decide if telling Kyle was a good idea or not though. Truthfully? He'd never told anyone before. Not even Karen knew.

He'd never told anyone about the forest boy either.

Kyle's hand reached out and touched his own, delicately as if to avoid alarming him.

Kenny didn't want to admit that it did actually help.

That was the problem.

The memories of a sheltered and fiery boy he'd known through voice alone conflicted with the terrifying imagery of the creature that had looked at him like he was a snack. This further conflicted with the terrified boy that wanted answers and never intended to hurt anyone.

Logically, Kenny understood how the all melded together to make one boy. Emotionally? He was still working shit out.

Kyle's fingers were lacing with his own in an attempt at solidarity, Kenny's lips curved upwards despite himself.

If he wasn't totally aware of Kyle's awkward obliviousness he would have to call the boy smooth as fuck in some ways.

"I'm here, if you need anything."

It was going to be hard to go home. Leave this. Leave him. He probably wouldn't meet the strange vampire child again.

He had to go home.

Kenny lifted the interlaced fingers to his lips and left a lasting kiss onto Kyle's knuckle. There was a gasp but he didn't look to see Kyle's expression until he'd hugged the hand to his chest.

Well, wasn't the ridiculously strong boy just red as a cherry? Kenny could chuckle if he had a voice to do so.

He felt a little bad, Kyle had probably never had the time to consider romantic emotions. Isolation and seclusion, thoughts only of rescuing a long missing brother.

Still, Kenny closed the distance between them, slowly and hesitantly. Giving Kyle all the time he would need to put a stop to it.

Rather than that, Kyle's lips met his halfway with a ferocity he hadn't at all expected.

It left him breathless. Leaving was going to be hard.

He had to.

The was a millimeter between their lips now, Kyle's uneven breathes tickling his, "Mysterion..."

Kenny decided that anyone that could say his name or any pseudonym of his in a voice like that should be arrested for public indecency.

He gave one last peck, gentle and slow, hand gripping Kyle's so tightly, desperately, Kyle's grip met his.

And he untangled himself.

"Mysterion?"

He'd wanted a kiss goodbye. He hadn't anticipated such a confused and rejected voice.

He'd wanted to wait until Kyle fell asleep again. He couldn't. If he stayed any longer his resolve might crumble entirely. He had to go.

 _It's okay_ , he mouthed, trying to keep his sadness out of his smile, _Really_.

Kyle's concern was quickly growing into panic and the boy was scrambling to get out of bed.

_Thank you._

"F-for what? What're you..."

 _Goodbye_.

And Kenny tipped himself out of the window.

\--Age 19--

Kyle sort of hated the upper world sometimes.

The smells still bugged him and the people were less than understanding that he'd been raised, almost literally, under a rock.

Humans were fucking bizarre.

Stan was pretty okay though.

He'd been out of his home for a year now. It had been... a process, convincing his mom to let him attend university. It'd been an even more extensive process getting information about his species from her.

'Vampire' was the common word in the above world, she'd explained, but it wasn't the word she preferred.

They were an extremely endangered species. She explained there was a stigma that they only drank human blood, which she found barbaric, and explained that his 'juice' had been animal blood.

He never told her about Mysterion. Especially not after learning that.

He never mentioned his escapades to the surface world or Kenny.

He did spend two years making an extensive argument about university and the advantages of learning to live with humans, considering they _were_ an endangered species.

And his dorm roommate freshman year was Stan Marsh, a completely chill and awesome human that made even some of the worst culture shock ease up.

Stan was another person that was talented at diffusing situations. Kyle understood this was a quality he really appreciated in people.

He also realized, the longer and fonder he grew of Stan, that his feelings for the last two humans in his life hadn't been exactly platonic.

Stan was the only person he'd mentioned any of this too. An extremely censored version of it, of course, but Stan was a good friend that he trusted.

He still couldn't understand why Mysterion took his life like that. It made him sick to his stomach.

He still couldn't understand the people that murdered Kenny.

Stan had let him talk, face slightly puzzled in places but a good friend.

By the end of it Stan had surmised, "So, you have a thing for blonds?"

It was clearly a joke but Kyle still shoved him irately, "I just told you my first two crushes died in front of me and that's your only take away?"

Stan shrugged, "I come from South Park. You learn a pretty morbid humor around there." he paused, "Guy number two sounds like a dick though. Kiss a guy then jump out a window. What an asshole."

"I... I think it might have been more complicated than that, to be honest." despite his own frustration over it, Kyle was hesitant to throw Mysterion under the bus. There was something inherently sad and mysterious about the guy. As if there was something he wanted to say but couldn't.

"You should meet my friend Kenny," Kyle froze at the name, heart thudding as he reminded himself it was a relatively common name, "He's blond and not a total asshole. Well, most of the time. Last I checked he was weak to redheads too."

"Why does your description of peoples tastes boil down to hair color? Do _you_ have a preoccupation with it?"

Stan flushed, looking away, "No! I just--okay, _maybe_ I like blonds too. _Maybe_."

They laughed it off. Stan didn't bring up 'Kenny' any further and Kyle was grateful.

He wasn't sure he wanted to meet another blond boy that might die around him.

\--

Kenny reminded himself that breathing was a regularly prescribed aspect of living.

When Stan invited him up to Denver to 'hang out' and 'meet his roommate' there was not even a _speck_ in Kenny's being that expected what he was seeing.

He'd searched the woods over so many times. He'd hoped to find a way back, to explain, to apologize, and maybe to get to know the boy better.

He never found a thing.

But now, apparently, after he'd long given up and attempted to move on with his life, there were those familiar curls.

It could be a completely different person, he reasoned, he could only see the back of the head.

Stan spotted him across the cafe and waved. The not so mysterious roommate turned as well.

The world stood still.

At least it felt like that. Kenny wasn't sure he'd be able to breathe much for quite some time and he didn't think Kyle was breathing either.

"Kenny! What're you doing spacing out like that?"

Stan's words echoed emptily in his own head but they caused Kyle's eyes to widen farther.

Uh-oh. Looks like someone may have made the connection.

Oh, god, Kenny should have just explained everything to Kyle back then. Why hadn't he done that?

He knew why. He'd been sixteen, dramatic, and confused. Also suffering from blood loss and probably a head injury.

That probably wouldn't help though. Those green eyes were building with a fire that could only spell out doom. It wasn't animalistic, thank god, but definitely not friendly.

Yeah, so far as he'd known Kyle, dude wasn't the forgiving type.

" _You_!"

That was the most accusing word Kenny had ever heard in his entire life. He gulped audibly.

"Me?" He squeaked in return.

Stan was trying to catch up, "Do you guys know each other?"

That seemed to trigger it.

"I'm going to kill you, you fucking asshole! Zaje-kurwa-biście chuj sukinsyna!" Kyle was out of his chair and Kenny was making a run for it, both entirely ignoring Stan's confused cries.

 _Shit_ , he was being chased by a pissed off vampire that... had a pretty good reason to be mad, to be honest. Kenny grimaced. If someone had kissed him silly and then committed suicide without mentioning immortality, he'd be pretty fucking upset too.

"Stop running, you piece of shit!"

"If I stop running you're going to kill me!" Kenny shot back, short on breath and more than a little petrified with how close behind him the other sounded. He dodged through the crowds expertly, trying to find a place out of sight to parkour the fuck out.

"No shit!" Kyle confirmed.

 _There_! An alley! And there was a fire escap--

Arms slammed the wall behind him, encasing him in an angry cage of pissed off vampire muscle.

Kenny gulped, turning slowly within his cage to face his executioner, "Look, I can explai--"

Lips sealed over his and he muffled a cry of shock. The resulting sound something embarrassingly like a squeak.

Kyle pulled away, eyes lightening focused on his, "You fucking asshole." he kissed again.

Kenny wasn't quite sure if this was how Kyle planned to murder him but he was a little okay with it if it was. Just as he leaned into it, there was that distance again.

"You're going to explain _everything_." Kenny nodded, eyes blown wide with surprise and heart once again thudding something awful in his chest.

The arms that were trapping him encircled and he was caught in a tight hug, Kyle's chin on his shoulder and breath an uneven pant from the running.

"I thought you were dead," he breathed, an emotion of relief so strong that Kenny felt his heart-clench, "You stupid asshole, why would you let me think you were dead?"

"It...it--uh-- seemed like a good idea at the time?" he winced, that was weak, "In my defense, I was pretty messed up at the time."

Kyle squeezed him tighter, "Why didn't you try to explain?"

"I--" It wasn't easy to put into words, Kenny struggled, "I'm sorry. What I did was fucked up and I didn't--I really didn't think everything through. And when I tried to find wherever the fuck you and your mom live I couldn't."

"Yeah, there's kinda a dimension hop necessary for that."

"Shit, seriously? God fucking dammit, give me back my afternoons trekking through the woods and getting eaten by bears."

Kyle finally loosened his grip enough to look at his face and Kenny felt the air ripped from him all over again at the look on his face.

It was... emotion. There was no other word. Emotions and confliction and his eyes shining in clarity. Oh dear. Kenny was still weak to this boy.

"Why didn't you tell me you were Kenny?"

"If you recall, I didn't really have a voice..."

Kyle didn't look convinced. Kenny sighed.

"It's complicated. I'll--can we just, put a pin in that for now? I swear I'll explain later."

"Yes, you will." Wow, when had Kyle grown so confident? He'd always had a fire in him but there was a seriously more self-assured guy than the one he'd known.

And the asshole was smirking now like he knew what his own improved self-esteem was doing to Kenny's ability to think straight.

Or maybe he'd just caught Kenny's eyes darting to his mouth because he was being kissed silly again.

Shit. Kenny was gonna get completely lost to the world at this rate.

"So, you guys _definitely_ know each other then?"

Count on Stan to catch up and make shit awkward. Kyle broke away from his mouth but kept Kenny hugged against him like he was scared to let go.

He might be, Kenny realized.

"Hey, Stan!" Kenny waved weakly, "So, your mystery roommate is Kyle, huh? That's cool."

Stan pinched the bridge of his nose, "Okay, I'm pretty sure I don't even want to know whatever is going on with you two, but really? Did it really require that dramatic exit and chase scene? Do you know how many people I had to apologize to for you assholes on the way here?"

"It kinda did." Kenny offered, looking to Kyle for confirmation.

"I think it would have been better if you'd stayed put and let me kill you." Kyle shot back.

"Is this an S&M thing? Because it feels like an S&M thing." Kenny would be so proud of Stan for making that point if he wasn't the current target of a rather fierce hug and some still very complicated emotions from a very overpowered literal vampire.

"What's S&M?" Kyle asked.

\--

Explaining shit to Stan was less strenuous than one would expect. Mostly due to the fact that the second something looked like overly convoluted emotional bullshit the guy had a tendency so say 'nevermind, I don't want to know'.

And if there was a description for his relationship with Kenny McCormick, it was definitely overly convoluted emotional bullshit.

Kenny had asked, hesitant and nervous, for time to explain shit and not to have to do it in front of Stan. After they'd exchanged contact info and Kyle had gained a few more guarantees that they were going to have _a talk_ , the sort of put a pin in the issue.

That was the problem now.

The weekend had gone on without a hitch after that. Stan planned for a videogame marathon and some time going to the movies to see some new action flick.

And Kenny was... really good at not leaving Kyle out. It was abundantly clear the two of them had a lifetime of inside jokes and friendship. Kyle felt his insides twist up at the thoughts of _could of been_ and jealousy at having a socialized childhood.

Stan had dropped an ice cream.

"Be careful, _butters_ fingers." Kenny had jibed. Kyle was lost but Stan lost his shit laughing.

"Are you sure it wasn't _Marjorine_?" Stan asked.

They had looked like they were having so much fun and Kyle felt that horrid out of place anxiety that built up from time to time.

But then Kenny's hand was on his shoulder--the one that was broken before, beyond healing-- and he literally pushed Kyle into the joke.

"Actually, it's 'I can't believe it's not Kyle'." he said in rationale while Stan giggled and mussed Kyle's hair.

And Kyle still didn't get the joke but he didn't feel excluded.

It was an awful reminder that Kenny--Mysterion--McCormick was exceptionally skilled at easing all of his sharp edges.

That in conjunction with the comfortable friendship he'd been able to develop with Stan made for a really fun weekend.

But the weekend was over.

And Kenny had returned to South Park.

And Kyle had his contact info but now he had some internal questions that were pounding against his skull for answers.

First and foremost, what the actual fuck was his relationship with Kenny? What did he even _want_ it to be?

He'd been, understandably, a bit overly emotional when they met again and he always did have a tendency to act on his compulsions. So, he'd made a huge scene of both threatening and kissing Kenny McCormick. A moment that was even more embarrassing after the concept of S&M had been properly explained.

He hadn't really consulted Kenny about those kisses though. Worry nagged at him about whether or not this was one-sided or not. Or any-sided, as he wasn't quite decided on his own side.

This was giving him a headache. Goddamnit.

What if Kenny had kissed back because kisses didn't really mean anything to him? Was that why Mysterion had kissed him before?

Worse yet, had Kenny kissed him back out of fear? Being all too aware of what Kyle could do if he was upset?

Days like these he wished _desperately_ that he had a filter for this sort of thing. Acting before thinking out the consequences was a weakness that was definitely going to destroy his life someday. If it hadn't already.

"So, you and Kenny are dating, right?"

Great. Stan wanted a single simple answer.

Kyle tried to think of an excuse not to answer, eyes darting over his textbook as if it was hiding an answer.

"I... don't know." he decided to say. When in doubt, honesty.

"Huh," Stan said, not looking up from whatever he was bustling with in the kitchen, "Just let me know if there's anything you wanna know. I've known him since we were in diapers so I can probably help you decipher him, if you're having trouble."

That was uncomfortably tempting an offer.

Kyle didn't want it though. An ugly side still raging over how close the two of them clearly were. He was jealous. He was smart enough to put that together. He was jealous that Stan, arguably his closest friend, had a friend he was closer to and he was jealous that Kenny got on so well with Stan because Stan _had_ mentioned being weak to blonds.

And you didn't get better quality in blond than Kenny. Kyle was one hundred percent confident of that.

If he admitted to Stan what he didn't know he felt like he would be losing somehow and he just _couldn't_ accept that.

"I'll be fine. We're gonna talk it out and shit."

Stan shrugged, still cooking without a care.

\--

What was a guy supposed to do when the complicated vampire crush from the past crashed through to the present and was going to call any day now for an extensive explanation on immortality? Kenny figured his problem was pretty one of a kind but all the same he typed the question into google.

A guy could try, right?

"What the hell are you searching?"

Kenny eeped, closing the app hurriedly and turning to his sisters skeptical eyes.

"Didn't know you were into that Twilight stuff," she sounded half joking but also curious. "Is it the sparkles? I know you've always had a weakness for glitter."

Ah, she knew him so well and still missed the mark by so far. One had to be impressed with that.

"Think less Twilight and more... uh, are there any vampire movies where they're actually scary?"

"Dracula?" she said.

"Ah, yeah. Like that. Sorta." God, why was everything complicated? "Hey, unrelated on its entirety, but if a person kinda high key traumatized another person by accidentally faking his own death after making romantic overtures, do you think there's still a chance for a healthy relationship to blossom?"

"...Ken. Put down the terrible TV dramas. Please."

Well, that wasn't helpful.

\--

He wasn't expecting Kenny to call first.

He wasn't ready to talk, maybe not yet, maybe not ever, and he still didn't know what to make of the relationship they didn't have. It was too much and all he wanted to do was buy groceries in peace.

It was that exact anxiety that caused his eyes to dart around the marketplace in such panic. He was still intending to pick it up.

He intended to.

His fluttering eyes had caught sight of something that tossed away all sense and reason. Zeroing in while the shock caused him to drop the phone onto the linoleum floor.

"Dad."

Unchanged from the photos, ageless, and accompanied by a tall youth with dark hair.

Kyle's breath caught.

He'd given up. After Mysterio--Kenny's second death, he'd finally accepted that every time he went to look for his brother, death seemed to follow.

He'd given up and _there he was_. It had to be him. It had to be.

Gerald Broflovski seemed to finally notice his gawker. Kyle didn't know what he expected.

He definitely didn't expect his estranged father to look panicked and begin to try ushering his other son away.

What. The. Fuck.

Kyle wasn't about ready to take that shit.

"Ike!"

Ike turned, confusion and then a vague recognition in his eyes. He'd been so young. There was no way he remembered.

All the same the voice called, confused and deeper with age, "Kyle?"

\--

"...What does it mean if the guy you maybe almost had a thing with isn't answering your calls?"

Karen, heartless as she is, didn't even look up from her book, "He's just not that into you."

Kenny sank. He seriously contemplated calling Stan but at the same time, what if Kyle had just decided this was a bad idea after all? What if it was exactly what it looked like?

Or, what if Kyle just needed more time? And pushing harder would only drive him away?

Shit, Kenny was way more invested in this than he wanted to be.

"Kareeeenn," Kenny whined, collapsing next to her and thoroughly disrupting her book, "It's been two weeks, I called three times, and I know I seem desperate but I wanted this to work."

"Is this the same guy that's got you into Twilight?"

"I told yo--"

"Dracula then," Karen rolled her eyes, "Point being if you've got it so bad, maybe you should try clear communication? I know you have a tendency to not do that thing I just said."

Kenny nudged her, "How can I do that if he doesn't answer?"

"Give up and call it a day."

Heartless. Completely heartless.

\--

It was a whirlwind.

He'd not had a series of events this traumatic in actual years. He wasn't sure he'd ever been part in something this rage inducing.

Years. Most of his life now. He'd thought his younger brother had died and it had all been his fault.

He'd carried that with him for _years_.

And at the end of the day, the facts were so horribly skewed.

He sat awkwardly in his mother's living room across from Ike, who also didn't seem to know what to make of the situation.

Their parents could be heard screaming in the other room.

Gerald Broflovski had wanted a divorce. He just didn't want to tell his, admittedly terrifying, wife Sheila.

So when he realized he could make it look like both Ike and himself had died in a tragic accident _knowing_ that his wife and other son were too naive of the outside world to be suspicious, he'd taken it.

Ike, as it turned out, had been informed of a similar story on the flipside.

Kyle and his mother were dead. There was no turning back. They had to live with humans now.

What could a person really say under those circumstances?

Well, Kyle could think of a lot of things. A great _many_ things to say to the bastard that had torn his family apart and convinced him his baby brother was dead. In fact, if his mother wasn't amidst saying all those things and more, Kyle wouldn't be able to contain his temper at all.

"So, you go to a university in Denver?"

Ike's voice was awkward, not shy, but the reality of the situation wasn't lost on him.

"Y-yeah... I convinced mom because--" a lot of reasons, too many reasons, Kyle looked at his brother and decided against listing all the reasons, "I couldn't really stay here anymore. Needed to get out, you know?"

Stilted. Awkward. Kyle longed for an easing presence to help this horrid conversation work.

Sure, they'd done tear filled hugs and even joined forces to drag their father down here, but where did one go from there?

"Uh, so what are you doing?"

"I got into a technology uni in California. I'm moving next year."

"Oh..." How much younger was Ike again? "That's really impressive."

"Thanks."

Could a person die of awkwardness? It seemed pretty likely at this point.

He thought of smooth edges and laughed a little, "Guess I can win best younger sibling now."

Ike blinked, "What's that?"

"Ah, me and my friend, he was always bragging about how great his younger sister is and I had very little material to work with. Still managed a tie though. This should be enough to push the Broflovski's in the lead."

It was meant to lighten the mood but Ike's face was pensive, thoughtful, a boy that had grown in so many ways since their time together that he might as well be a stranger, "You talked about me?"

Kyle's turn to be confused, "Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"Wouldn't it have made more sense to try forgetting about me?"

Kyle's anger swelled. The frustration from everything exploded. His father's stupidity. His years of pointless angst. The disconnect between brothers that didn't have to exist.

He was ready to yell, proclaim to the world every single reason Ike was _wrong_ and every reason he could never do that. The evidence to the contrary. The meaning in their kinship.

"No--" he choked on his own words, too many emotions building and too much to say choking his voice out.

He coughed violently, trying to regain his breath.

When he'd caught it again he noticed that Ike was patting his back, "I'm sorry. Me too." Ike looked down at his unoccupied hand sadly, "Me too."

That was the best they could do for now.

A mother's warning was there to protect, to save, and sometimes the foolish didn't listen.

Sometimes the foolhardy and young went with too much confidence and not enough fear.

There was no undoing errors like that. Only building towards the future.

\--

It was about time to give up.

Whatever it was that kept Kyle from answering his phone, indifference or anger, Kenny needed to stop looking at his own phone in constant anxiety.

For starters, Karen's judgey stares were a touch too well-earned for his taste.

What did he really have between them? It all amounted to a childhood crush, a teenage angst-fest and almost murder, and a highly over-dramatic reunion.

Kenny couldn't do this. Not over something so stupid.

He wasn't going to spend all day swooning over some damn boy that didn't give him the time of day to even reject him properly.

And Kyle was the one that kissed _him_ okay, Kenny had _not_ initiated that! Initially at least. So it was more than reasonable that Kenny had been led on!

Oh, goddamnit, was this Kyle's revenge for the kiss and death thing? Was he allowed to be angry if it was karma?

Regardless. Kenny had to put an end to this.

So he was only calling again so that he could leave a very pointed message in Kyle's voicemail.

He really wasn't expecting anyone to pick up.

He _really_ wasn't expecting anyone to knock on the door.

He cursed and hung-up the phone, making his way to the front door, ready for some bullshit package or religious people.

"Oh, shit, you're actually home."

What the fuck was Kyle Broflovski doing on his doorstep?

"I hope you don't mind, I--I got your address from Stan. I left my phone back at our dorm and my mom had Stan's number in case of emergencies. And since I'm in town visiting family I thought I'd come by. You would not fucking believe the shit that's gone down."

Could have gotten his number from Stan instead of an address, Kenny wanted to point out, trying to understand the circumstances that were wrapping around his mind.

"Oh god, please don't check your voicemails."

Why had Kenny said that? Why had it come out at that pitch?

Kyle's eyebrows shot up, "Why?"

"Because he sounds like a desperate loser in them!" Karen's voice called from the adjacent room and ohgod, Kenny had completely forgotten she was home.

"Please shut up, Karen." Kenny managed, his face somewhere in the reddest range it had ever been.

Karen, the kind and loving sister that she was, instead called out, "Not after you made me listen to you whine for _weeks_ about whether or not the boy likes you!" Karen's head popped into vision from the hallway, "Save me from suffering further, dude, do you or do you not like my pitiful brother?"

Kenny couldn't bring himself to look at the disaster his sister had probably created. Even if he'd had a shot prior, what the hell would Kyle think now?

A hand wrapped around his waist and Kenny darted to see Kyle's also very red face. The vampire wasn't looking at him though, eyes fixed on Karen, "You could say that."

And in one swift movement he'd been dragged out the still open door and the door shut neatly behind them.

"I can explain," Kenny started, Kyle's finger shushed him.

"I think. It's been a _really_ long few weeks and I've heard a lot of explanations from a lot of people. There's a lot I want to talk about and someone I want you to meet. But right now?"

The finger moved and lips replaced it.

Kenny squeaked.

"Is it fair to say the feeling is mutual?"

Damn Kyle for having eyes like that.

Kenny nodded and initiated the next kiss, feeling Kyle smile against his lips.

Behind Kyle there was an expanse of stars with meaning that only humans attached to them. A million little stars exploding forever and purpose to be earned.

And there was Kyle, who derailed his schedule and kept him on his toes.

Maybe he could take a break for this. A person he could reach.

A person that fit in the places he felt at a loss.

 


End file.
